


she runs hot for me

by Sidders



Category: Lovecraft Country (TV)
Genre: F/F, christina's a car guy, don't try to convince me otherwise, possibly the most self indulgent fic i've ever written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:54:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27534106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sidders/pseuds/Sidders
Summary: “That’s a new look on you,” Ruby says after she’s let herself enjoy the view for a moment. And Christina - she doesn’t jump, exactly, but she does quickly look over her shoulder, eyes a little wide.“What is?”“Grease monkey.”
Relationships: Ruby Baptiste/Christina Braithwhite
Comments: 42
Kudos: 170





	she runs hot for me

**Author's Note:**

> Two things. 1. I, as usual, blame the group chat for this. 2. Click [here](https://i.imgur.com/2vcyoYa.jpg) for Abbey Lee in this get up if you need a visual.

Ruby finds her out on the driveway. She’s far enough from the gate and the hedges are tall enough that no one can look in, and Ruby’s grateful because what greets her is a sight that she wants to take in without worrying about the outside world.

Because Christina is always infuriatingly well put together. Whether she’s wearing one of her many dresses or she’s feeling a little more masculine, she always looks like she’s stepped off the runway. She always looks good. Now is no different, it’s just -- new. 

Christina is under the hood of the Bentley, bent over doing something that Ruby can’t see. What she can see is how unusually casual she looks. Her expensive dresses have been swapped out for a loose, plain white t-shirt and a pair of washed out blue jeans, and in place of her usual heels she’s wearing a beat up pair of Chuck Taylor’s.

She’s also filthy. There are faintly hand-shaped grease stains all over her jeans and shirt where she’s obviously wiped her hands and, as Ruby watches, she brings a hand up to brush a strand of hair out of her face and leaves a black mark across her cheek.

“That’s a new look on you,” Ruby says after she’s let herself enjoy the view for a moment. And Christina - she doesn’t jump, exactly, but she does quickly look over her shoulder, eyes a little wide.

“What is?”

“Grease monkey.”

Christina breathes out a laugh and turns around to lean against the car, grabbing a cloth from nearby to clean her hands. “Is that a bad thing?”

The look on her face suggests that she knows the answer, so Ruby doesn’t give her one.

“I didn’t know you knew cars this well,” she says instead.

“You’ve seen me work on the Pontiac before.”

“No, I’ve seen you clean the Pontiac as William,” Ruby corrects her. “I just assumed you liked getting the neighbours all hot and bothered.”

Christina smirks and Ruby rolls her eyes. She’s seen them, the men of the neighbourhood complimenting William on his car with jealousy in their eyes while their wives and daughters (and sometimes their sons) watch from their porches or their bedroom windows.

“I guess I figured you’d be more inclined to pay someone to do this for you.” It’s not meant as an insult, not really. Christina has money and she’s never afraid to spend it, and the only other time Ruby sees her quite literally get her hands dirty is when she’s been masquerading as William all day.

“It relaxes me.”

It’s a simple enough answer, but Ruby still can’t help but wonder how a sheltered rich girl brought up in a cult learned how to fix a car. She asks as much and Christina pauses in her failed attempt at cleaning the oil stains from her fingers.

“When I was younger my father had a chauffeur who doubled as a mechanic. He taught me how to drive and I used to watch him work on the cars until, one day, he offered to teach me how to look after a car myself.” She smiles faintly at the memory. “He said that every car owner should know how to change a tire and fix any minor problems - even rich white girls.”

“I bet your father loved that,” Ruby jokes but the smile drops from Christina’s face.

“He didn’t even notice.”

She turns back to the car then, draping the cloth over the hood and ducking back underneath it to get back to work, effectively closing herself off.

Ruby sighs but doesn’t try to apologise - she knows better by now, knows that it won’t help and Christina will just say that she has nothing to apologise for. Instead she walks up behind Christina and slides her hands over her hips, letting her thumbs brush bare skin just beneath the hem of her t-shirt and she hears Christina’s breath catch.

“For what it’s worth, I’m glad he taught you.”

“You are?”

Ruby hums and rests her chin on Christina’s shoulder when the other woman straightens back up. “I guess I like seeing you a little messy.”

She presses her lips against the side of Christina’s neck and feels her swallow.

“We’re outside.”

“And thanks to this over the top fencing, we’re invisible.”

Unable to argue with that, Christina turns in Ruby’s arms and brings her hands up to Ruby’s face, only for Ruby to flinch away from her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Seriously?” Ruby looks at Christina’s hands which, despite her earlier efforts, are still stained black. “You’re not touching me until you’ve had a bath.”

“I thought you liked me all messy?” Christina asks with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Yeah, you. I don’t want any of that on me.”

“No?”

She’s so fast that Ruby doesn’t even have time to react, and within seconds Christina has rubbed her thumb across Ruby’s cheek, leaving a black oily streak behind. All Ruby can do is stare at her, half shocked and half disgusted.

“What are you, five!?” Ruby yells, rushing over to the car to get a look at herself in the mirror.

“Look at it this way,” Christina says, and when Ruby looks up she’s smirking. “Now we both need a bath.”


End file.
